A WHARFEDALE sports club will decide this weekend whether to accept a 'once in a lifetime' funding offer.

Pool-in-Wharfedale LTC has been offered a deal to enable a £74,000 improvement project, involving resurfacing its two courts and installing floodlights, to proceed.

The offer, from the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and Yorkshire Tennis (formerly YLTA), follows years of preparation.

It also entails taking out a loan of just under £28,000 - and setting up a £3,600 per year 'sinking fund' for future work.

Conscious of how difficult it may be to meet those commitments, the tennis club has called an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM).

Chair David Broome, in a message to members ahead of the 1pm meeting on Sunday, April 28 spelt out the dilemma.

He said: "Following exhaustive work over the last couple of years by Geoff Smith we have now received a formal offer of funding from both the LTA and the YLTA.

"After committing our own funds and two grants, the loan element against the project costs of £74,000 is still very significant.

"This needs to be repaid over ten years, which given our recent figures, we feel is just manageable.

"However, there are strings attached to our grants and loans offer - the critical one being a requirement to build a sinking fund for the next resurfacing at a rate of £3,600 per annum.

"This is in addition to repaying the loan and will be audited by the LTA trust.

"As a club, we are run by a very small committee of four to five people and, for the last six months, without a secretary.

"To run this project and agree to the future costs...will need vastly more support than we have at present. We need younger members involved who can look at ten years of tennis and raising the additional funds required.

"We only have a short time to either accept or reject the offer, and your present committee are not willing to go ahead without a significant commitment of support from our membership."

Volunteer Committee Member Geoff Smith told the Wharfedale & Aireborough Observer: "This is the culmination of a six year effort by the club and I think it's a once in a lifetime opportunity.

"Having floodlights would be transformative and allow us to have tennis every day of the year, weather permitting.

"The loan and sinking fund side of the offer is a huge potential commitment, so we need to 'rally the troops' at the EGM this weekend to see if we can accept it."

Anyone who believes the club should accept the offer and is willing to help can also contact Mr Broome on 07711 892833, e-mail dc.broome@btinternet.com .